Did Nehru initially exclude Patel from his Cabinet? S Jaishankar and Ramachandra Guha engage in Twitter spat on claim

Historian Ramachandra Guha and Foreign Minister Subramanian Jaishankar locked horns on Twitter over the controversial claim that Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first prime minister, had initially excluded Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from his Cabinet.

Jaishankar, on February 12, tweeted that he learned about this claim at the launch of Narayani Basu’s book ‘The Unsung Architect of Modern India’.

Released an absorbing biography of VP Menon by @narayani_basu. Sharp contrast between Patel's Menon and Nehru's Menon. Much awaited justice done to a truly historical figure. pic.twitter.com/SrCBMtuEMx

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 12, 2020

The author quoted an interview with VP Menon to substantiate her argument. The book mentioned Menon saying that Sardar Patel was included in the list of Cabinet ministers only after Menon had spoken to Louis Mountbatten to warn him of the consequences of such a move.

Learnt from the book that Nehru did not want Patel in the Cabinet in 1947 and omitted him from the initial Cabinet list. Clearly, a subject for much debate. Noted that the author stood her ground on this revelation. pic.twitter.com/FelAMUZxFL

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 12, 2020

Guha replied to the tweet by stating that the claim was a myth.

This is a myth, that has been comprehensively demolished by Professor Srinath Raghavan in The Print. Besides, promoting fake news about, and false rivalries between, the builders of modern India is not the job of the Foreign Minister. He should leave this to the BJP’s IT Cell. https://t.co/krAVzmaFkL

— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) February 13, 2020

To which, Jaishankar wrote:

Some Foreign Ministers do read books. May be a good habit for some Professors too. In that case, strongly recommend the one I released yesterday. https://t.co/d2Iq4jafsR

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 13, 2020

The debate continued, and the Guha shared a letter written by Nehru wherein he personally invited Patel to join his Cabinet.

The letter of 1 August where Nehru invites Patel to join the first Cabinet of free India, calling him the “strongest pillar” of that Cabinet. Can someone show this to ⁦@DrSJaishankar⁩ please? pic.twitter.com/N6m1mOr7SF

— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) February 13, 2020